The R.A.C.E. Podcast

Perhaps the 3 most prominent questions we ask ourselves in the world today are: Why me? Why this work? Why now? On today’s episode of The R.A.C.E Podcast, we are honored to be joined by Linetta Gilbert, a pioneer in the world of Community Philanthropy. Linetta and I engage in a deep discussion around faith, community, engagement and support. Linetta is a true Sage and her work and guidance is legendary. Join us as we explore the state of our Philanthropic world and what is on the horizon.  

Meet Linetta Gilbert:

Linetta is an original futurist, mentor, coach & an award winning change maker. She earned her B.A in History/Political Science from Howard University and has had a remarkable career working in community engagement, economic development, public policy, community organizing, capacity building, philanthropy, and leadership development. She has served on the board for several NGOs including Goodwork Network, Agenda for Children and Foundation for Louisiana (formerly Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation). 

In the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Linetta helped guide decisions on philanthropic investments that would help to rebuild infrastructure and increase capacity to transition the region from recovery to transformation. In December 2012, Linetta founded Gilbert & Associates, LLC. Linetta is also a founding member of Agenda for Children-New Orleans, The Louisiana Children’s Museum, The Jeremiah Group and Chrisitan Unity Baptist Church, New Orleans. In 2019, she was recognized for her achievements in philanthropy by being selected as the 29th James A. Joseph Lecturer by the Association of Black Foundation Executives.

Listen in as Linetta shares:

• Her deep history and upbringing within a community that led with support and nurturing and how that has informed her work.
• How she became interested in Community Philanthropy and her work with the Ford Foundation 
• The importance of identifying the real fears in the community so that the real hope can shine
• How she holds herself accountable in her work and
• The one thing she wishes someone would have told her about doing work in this space

Learn more and connect with Linetta Gilbert and her work:

LinkedIn: Linetta Gilbert

Frontline Article: We Are Not the Black McKinsey

Ledisi Song: Pieces of Me

Hi listener! Please take our short Listener Survey HERE to give The R.A.C.E. Podcast team feedback on the show. We will use the feedback to inform how we approach conversations in the future. Upon completion, you will be entered in our quarterly drawing for a $100 Visa gift card! Your email address will only be used for this purpose. Thanks in advance - we appreciate your feedback.

Connect with Keecha Harris and Associates:

• Website: https://khandassociates.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/keecha-harris-and-associates/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/khandassociates
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCukpgXjuOW-ok-pHtVkSajg/featured

Connect with Keecha:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keechaharris/

What does it mean to actually “do” Racial Equity work? To meet at the intersection of Race and Humanness? On today’s episode of The R.A.C.E Podcast, I welcome Dr. Karida L. Brown to the conversation. Most known for her Racial Equity work with the Lakers and her most recent appointment as the Director of The John Lewis Center for Social Justice at Fisk University, Dr. Brown brings not only a wealth of knowledge and experience, but also a deep humanness to this work. Our conversation is rich with personal experiences and lessons learned within the world of Racial Equity work and highlights the importance of humanization and connection to affect and inspire change.

Meet Dr. Karida Brown:

Dr. Karida L. Brown is a Professor at UCLA in the Departments of Sociology & African American Studies. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from Brown University (2016). She earned her M.P.A. in Government Administration from the University of Pennsylvania (2011). Her research focuses on the relationship between race, social transformations, and communal memory. 

Dr. Brown is a multifaceted oral historian, sociologist & educator. She currently serves on the boards of The Obama Presidency Oral History Project and the Du Boisian Scholar Network. In June of 2020, Dr. Brown was appointed Director of Racial Equity & Action for the Los Angeles Lakers. 

Karida is also a Fulbright Scholar responsible for research supported by National foundations like the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation & the Hellman Fellows Fund. Her book, “Gone Home: Race and Roots through Appalachia” (UNC Press), reconstructs the life histories of a cohort of African Americans who migrated throughout the Appalachian region during the African American Great Migration. Her research project, the Origins of Racial Inequality in Education, undertakes a global history of segregated schooling and its enduring legacies on race and education today. This research is funded by the Fulbright Global Scholars program and the Hellman Fellows Fund.

Listen in as Karida shares:

• How her identities as a Black, African-American, working class Woman serves as the foundation and lens of her equity work
• The power of data in creating change within racial equity work
• The importance of meeting leaders where they are at the “intersection” of their work
• The results of her work as it relates to racial equity with the Lakers
• Her “special sauce” and how she shows up in ways that challenge, align, and inspire people to do better and take action

Learn more and connect with Dr. Karida Brown and her work:

LinkedIn: Dr. Karida L. Brown

Hi listener! Please take our short Listener Survey HERE to give The R.A.C.E. Podcast team feedback on the show. We will use the feedback to inform how we approach conversations in the future. Upon completion, you will be entered in our quarterly drawing for a $100 Visa gift card! Your email address will only be used for this purpose. Thanks in advance - we appreciate your feedback.

Connect with Keecha Harris and Associates:

• Website: https://khandassociates.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/keecha-harris-and-associates/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/khandassociates
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCukpgXjuOW-ok-pHtVkSajg/featured

Connect with Keecha:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keechaharris/

What does it mean to be an Ally? To do your own personal transformation work while leading a diverse team? On today’s episode of The R.A.C.E Podcast, I am honored to be joined by an amazing mentor and friend Dr. Ali Webb of Ali Webb Strategies. Join Ali and I for a transparent conversation on what it takes to navigate and decenter whiteness in the world of Philanthropy and how Ali is doing her part. Our conversation highlights the complexities of racial equity work and the realization that it is lifelong and takes dedication, commitment, and a willingness to be wrong while growing along the way.

Meet Ali Webb:

Dr. Ali Webb’s first job out of college was as a reporter for a small newspaper in Texas. Her second job, however, was press secretary to the Mayor of Los Angeles, Tom Bradley, for seven years. Ali was the first female and youngest person to ever hold the position of press secretary in Los Angeles.

She was appointed by President Bill Clinton to head Communications at the United States Department of Agriculture. She was also Communications Director for The Nature Conservancy and political director for the League of Conservation Voters.

For 19 years, she worked at the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, one of the largest U.S. charitable foundations. Her last role was as Director of Michigan Programming, leading a team of 15 people and an annual grantmaking budget of $65 million. She now leads Ali Webb Strategies where she advises leaders and advances strategies that help organizations bridge the gap between expectations and outcomes, using a racial equity lens.

Ali currently teaches at the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan and in the Nonprofit Management program at Columbia’s School of Professional Studies. She received her BA in journalism from Stanford University and her MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. In 2005, she earned her PhD in mass media from Michigan State University. Ali is also a Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), a globally recognized assessment tool that helps build the skills of individuals, teams, and organizations to navigate cultural diversity.

Listen in as Ali shares:

• Her identities and how they have shaped her journey
• The greatest challenges and opportunities when working with white philanthropists
• Trust and the role it plays in building a diverse team
• The importance of decentering whiteness to achieve racial equity
• The supportive and influential people she calls on when things get tough in this work
• Why she has decided to “stay in the ring” as a white woman after over 20 years

Deep gratitude to Dr. Ali Webb for her honesty and transparency in addition to her commitment to racial equity work.

Learn more and Connect with Dr. Ali Webb and her work:

Website: https://www.aliwebbstrategies.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ali-webb-6667164/

Hi listener! Please take our short Listener Survey HERE to give The R.A.C.E. Podcast team feedback on the show. We will use the feedback to inform how we approach conversations in the future. Upon completion, you will be entered in our quarterly drawing for a $100 Visa gift card! Your email address will only be used for this purpose. Thanks in advance - we appreciate your feedback.

Connect with Keecha Harris and Associates:

• Website: https://khandassociates.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/keecha-harris-and-associates/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/khandassociates
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCukpgXjuOW-ok-pHtVkSajg/featured

Connect with Keecha:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keechaharris/

As an advocate, leader, and servant of any community, especially communities committed to Race-centered change processes, it can be easy to get lost in all the noise. This work isn’t easy, and often we show up as flawed, human, and influenced by our own pain and need for change, justice, and equity. We can sometimes get so embroiled in the politics of accolades, salary, and being at the forefront of technological progress that we forget what should be at the center of racial justice work: Empathy. In the face of past and present patterns of white oppression, it isn’t easy to lead with love. The weight of the racial injustice and dehumanization that has been meted out to certain communities is enough to make you want to holler! So how do we begin the ten thousand-mile journey to doing this work and centering racial equity in our work and our day-to-day lives?  Today’s guest offers us a simple answer to meditate on: Do the best that you can to be as real and authentic as possible, lead with love and empathy.

On today’s episode of The R.A.C.E Podcast, I am joined by an amazing thought leader and provocateur: Nathaniel Smith of the Partnership for Southern Equity (PSE). Join Nathaniel and I for a riveting and re-affirming conversation on empathy and how it is the cornerstone of racial equity work. Tune in to hear more about why it is vital that we keep running this race, the significance of connecting with the heart for a purpose-driven life, and why it is more important to focus on our assignment than our accolades.

Meet Nathaniel Smith:

Nathaniel Smith is the Founder and Chief Equity Officer at the Partnership for Southern Equity (PSE), an Atlanta based organization involved in race-centered change processes in the American South. Through utilizing an equity agenda, PSE aims to address the inequities in our communities so prosperity can be created and shared by all. They believe that there are groups that have much more support systems and resources that enable their success, while others are forced to rely on more uncertain circumstances in under-resourced communities. Therefore, PSE works to advance just outcomes that are sensitive to the needs and circumstances of the populations in question – erasing the barriers that stand in the way for everyone to succeed.

Among PSE’s notable accomplishments was the creation of the American South’s first equity mapping and framing tool, the Metro Atlanta Equity Atlas, and co-authoring numerous reports ,including: “Growing the Future: The Case for Economic Inclusion in Metropolitan Atlanta”, and “Employment Equity: Putting Georgia on the Path to Inclusive Prosperity.” PSE also led a coalition of diverse stakeholders to support a $13 million transit referendum that expanded Atlanta’s metropolitan transit system into a new county for the first time in 45 years. Smith’s advocacy activities were instrumental in the ratification of a 15 percent set aside of Atlanta Beltline Tax Allocation District (TAD) dollars for the development and maintenance of affordable workforce housing within the Atlanta BeltLine Planning Area - $250 million dollars over the 25-year lifespan of the Atlanta BeltLine TAD.

As a child of the South, Mr. Smith believes his Southern heritage is a critical part of his existence. Influenced by a legacy of struggle, resilience, relationships, and faith, his upbringing allows him to center community in his work and life. As a firm believer that all one has are his deeds and that the work of centering racial equity is his spiritual assignment, Nathaniel Smith is a man that walks his walk and goes against the status quo. Raised by parents that were a part of the civil rights movement, Nathaniel bore witness to everyday people giving themselves to the fight against racial injustice. This motivated him to do two things: honor our ancestors by continuing to do the work of racial equity and creat

Hi listener! Please take our short Listener Survey HERE to give The R.A.C.E. Podcast team feedback on the show. We will use the feedback to inform how we approach conversations in the future. Upon completion, you will be entered in our quarterly drawing for a $100 Visa gift card! Your email address will only be used for this purpose. Thanks in advance - we appreciate your feedback.

Connect with Keecha Harris and Associates:

• Website: https://khandassociates.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/keecha-harris-and-associates/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/khandassociates
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCukpgXjuOW-ok-pHtVkSajg/featured

Connect with Keecha:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keechaharris/

Welcome to the R.A.C.E. podcast! I am your host, Keecha Harris, and I invite you to join me as I talk with past clients, thought partners, and collaborators about the responsibility, accountability, courage, and engagement needed to lead change that centers on Race. 

Let's face it. These times make us all take a harder look at ourselves as contributors to professional efforts that address Race. Have you ever asked yourself, “How am I showing up around race-related issues at work?” Have you ever said as a Black woman, “I feel personally responsible to lead on race, but I'm not sure how?” Or you may have said, “I am White and come from multiple generations of middle-class experience; how can I be in deep solidarity with other people of color?” If you have asked yourself these questions or others like them, join me as we talk about our journeys as racial equity and justice change agents. 

During our conversations, you will hear:

• How one's personal identities fuel commitment,
• Each guest’s “no turning back now'' moment, and 
• Why they stay in the game, and what they want you to remember.

These conversations are about change. These conversations are about Race. These conversations are about leadership. The people you will hear from are our leaders who have had to navigate change processes, where Race is front and center as a part of their day-to-day work. They will motivate you, challenge your thinking and invite you to try on new approaches as you navigate race-related change processes within your current role. 

This podcast was created to help all of us on our personal journeys to becoming Anti-racist change agents. I have nearly 25 years of experience working with clients and providing them with tools to lead transformational change and work through diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice strategy. I want to share with you some of these experiences so that you can take your efforts to the next level while making your workplace more healthy, efficient, and impactful. 

Join us for brave transformative conversations, and let us help you discover what it means to take a stand for Humanity.

Hi listener! Please take our short Listener Survey HERE to give The R.A.C.E. Podcast team feedback on the show. We will use the feedback to inform how we approach conversations in the future. Upon completion, you will be entered in our quarterly drawing for a $100 Visa gift card! Your email address will only be used for this purpose. Thanks in advance - we appreciate your feedback.

Connect with Keecha Harris and Associates:

• Website: https://khandassociates.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/keecha-harris-and-associates/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/khandassociates
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCukpgXjuOW-ok-pHtVkSajg/featured

Connect with Keecha:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keechaharris/